The Four Seasons in Yosemite National Park (1938) by Ansel Adams

Introduction

Geologists say that long ago in the Ice Age two great glaciers, slowly moving
down the canyons which rise eastward on either side of Half Dome, joined;
and that with terrific power, they ground and gouged away the granite slopes
of a lesser canyon, leaving the wide gorge and perpendicular walls which is
now Yosemite Valley.

Reason and evidence tell us this is true. ‘But sometimes it is easier to believe
that some prehistoric race of giants, directed by a master sculptor, hewed and
carved the huge monuments of granite which tower almost a mile above the
level Valley floor; and then led the mountain streams to the edge of the
precipice and sent them thundering down.

This childish thought is scarcely more fantastic than the actual scenery which
seldom fails to amaze even the most seasoned traveller. Yosemite defies
description. It is a place of contrasts. Tremendous yet jewel-like in precision
and beauty—formidable yet friendly—brooding yet gay—magnificent yet
done with the simplicity of Nature’s master works.